NewsAshley's walk-off slam lifts Dogs
Desme goes deep for sixth time in five games
By Danny Wild / MLB.com
10/26/09 7:15 PM ET
Good things happen when you eat with the team's hottest hitter."He's my favorite player right now," Rays prospect Nevin Ashley said of teammate Grant Desme. "I tell him that every day. I try to eat what he eats, sit next to him to get the good vibes. It's been working so far."
The pair may have company around the table after Ashley hit a walk-off grand slam and Desme homered for the fifth straight game en route to the Phoenix Desert Dogs' 9-5 victory over the Mesa Solar Sox on Monday afternoon.
Ashley, who hit just three homers in 97 Minor League games in 2009, smacked an 0-2 pitch from Boston's Dustin Richardson to left field for his first career grand slam, his only hit of the game.
"To be a walk-off, it makes it a little more exciting," said Ashley, a 25-year-old catcher out of Indiana State. "I got down early in the count, missed the first pitch, a fastball. I swung at a high fastball on the second pitch. Richardson is a hard thrower, so I knew he would come back with an up-and-in fastball. He just didn't get it up high enough."
Ashley's homer was his second in three games after going deep against Surprise on Oct. 23. It took him 62 games with the Class A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs to get two homers this summer.
"I just wanted to get it out there far enough to score a run," Ashley said. "And it just kept going."
Desme, meanwhile, has been the Arizona Fall League's hottest hitter of late. The Oakland farmhand has eight homers, including six in his last five games, and 16 RBIs in his last eight games for the Desert Dogs. His three-run shot in the first inning off Twins right-hander Mike McCardell put the Dogs up early.
Ashley inches closer to the slugger in the dugout, hoping some of the magic will rub off.
"It's a lot of fun, this is a great group of guys and we're bonding really well," said Ashley, Tampa Bay's sixth-round pick in the 2006 Draft. "When I came around third base, I was thinking about throwing the helmet off. I figured I'd get hit on the head, and sure enough they attacked me right as I hit the plate," Ashley laughed.
"I'm thinking, thank goodness I didn't have to go out and catch another half inning," he said.
Ashley, a Florida State League All-Star this summer, split his fourth season between the Stone Crabs and Double-A Montgomery. He struggled against Southern League pitchers, hitting .212 with a homer and 15 RBIs in 35 games and came to Arizona to work on his swing and mechanics.
"I'm working on my hitting, trying new stuff, doing a little leg kick now and I'm feeling really good," he said. "I've just gotta keep it going and turn it on."
If the Desme Diet is the secret, consider Ashley a convert.
"I'm looking to have a good time, work on my hitting and keep improving as a baseball player," he said. "I want to try and show everybody how good I can be."
Desme, Oakland's second-round pick in the 2007 Draft, isn't having any trouble showing off. The 25-year-old Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo product is batting .425 with 17 hits and a dozen runs scored in his last 10 games. The California native has gone deep in seven of his last eight contests.
Phoenix, with an early edge after Desme's homer, took a 5-3 lead in the fourth on consecutive RBI triples by Athletics prospects Corey Brown and Jemile Weeks. Mesa clawed back and eventually tied the game in the ninth when Chris Parmelee (Twins) singled home Bryan Petersen (Marlins) with two outs. In the bottom of the frame, Orioles third baseman Josh Bell hit a one-out single and Brown and Weeks worked consecutive walks, setting the stage for Ashley.
"We had the lead going into the ninth," he said. "We had confidence in our hitters to come back."
Nationals' 2009 first-round pick Drew Storen picked up the win after allowing a run in the ninth, the first earned run in five AFL appearances for the Stanford product. Jays right-hander Robert Ray, a seventh-rounder out of Texas A&M in 2005, started and allowed three runs on six hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out five.
Richardson, who recorded one out, was charged with four runs on two hits and a pair of walks for the loss. McCardell allowed five runs on five hits and a walk in 3 2/3 frames for Mesa.
Danny Wild is an editor for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
